12 Ideas for Simple Tattoos

Tattoos speak even when your mouth is closed. Your tattoo design is an important decision; it doesn’t matter if you are sitting in the tattoo chair for the first time or if you have spent more time there than you have with your mother. Simple tattoos can sometimes speak louder than complex pieces. Here are three categories of simple tattoo ideas to help you pick the perfect design.

Some Good Ideas for Simple Tattoos:

Word Tattoos

1 – Family

When I think of family script tattoos I get a mental image of a sleeved out biker with the word ‘Mom’ tattooed on his forearm. This three letter tattoo tells you something about this guy that you wouldn’t necessarily assume otherwise. He obviously has a special relationship with his mother. If you have family that has always supported you this may be a good choice.

2 – Partner

A note to all the love birds; you may want to think twice about getting your lovers name tatted on you. Even the best relationships can end. If things hit the fan and you burn everything that reminds you of them, your tattoo is staying, until you get a cover up anyway.

3 – Kiddos

Nothing in life can compare to having kids. A tattoo of your child’s name is a good choice for parents who want a clean looking tattoo. A simple font can make your tattoo stand out among the fancier script most people choose. The love and responsibility you feel for your little ankle biter is the very reason that many people like this tattoo. Another option is to do your child’s date of birth in numerical form.

4 – Deep Meaning

These are common tattoos for people who have been through life changing experiences. Stripped-down deep meaning tattoos most of the time are one word virtues like faith, love, or hope. But they can also be a quote, song lyric, or scripture. For example, a cancer survivor may choose something that describes how they feel. Gratitude, smile, and survivor are all popular choices. Tattoos that tell medical information, for instance if you are a diabetic or have a rare blood type, are similar to this.

5 – Foreign Language

Maybe you’re bilingual, maybe not. It doesn’t matter when it comes to getting a tat in another language. Say you want a tat of your favorite saying, but your grandma would smack you. Here is the solution. This is my favorite option for people want to get their spouse’s name tattooed on them. This is a good choice for people who want to showcase their culture. Dead languages like Greek and Hebrew are popular choices.

Hobby Tattoos

6 – Outdoor Fiends

Scaling a huge rock formation, or taking a nature hike is not on my to-do list anytime soon. However, those types of activities may be your passion. If so some ink with a pair of hiking boots, rope and metal clips, or a mountain range are great choices for you to showcase your hobby. For bird watchers a silhouette of your favorite bird is simple yet tells of your love for the animal. My favorite simple tattoo for horse lovers is the lasso. There are so many other western themed things that you could strip down into an outline as well.

7 – Water Dogs

It really doesn’t matter if you are a professional swimmer or you just love to sit at the beach. Waves are a simplistic way to speak to what you love. Of course if it is really the beach you love that opens up the door for things like the sun, palm trees, and starfish. A lot of the beach themed tattoos you see are really complex and detailed, but it doesn’t have to be that way. You can get the same message across with a flip flop tattooed inside your wrist as you do with a full back piece of a Hawaiian sunset.

8 – Career

People who love their job may want a tattoo that represents their profession. I am a writer, no shocker there, and the next tattoo I have planned is a pen. If you love what you do, think of something you use everyday and imagine it in the simplest form. A doctor might get the prescription symbol Rx tattooed. A music teacher may choose a treble clef. You get the idea.

Symbolic Tattoos

9 – What’s your Sign?

If you don’t leave the house in the morning without checking your daily horoscope this is the tattoo for you. You are the one who could spend five minutes with me and know I was a Leo just by my personality. For a stripped down version of this choice you can get the Zodiac symbol for your star sign. Some will want a bit of detail so I would suggest getting the animal that represents your sign.

10 – Heritage

People who are proud of their heritage may choose a symbol related to their motherland. I am from a proud Irish family. All three of my brothers have four leaf clovers tattooed on their body somewhere. One has a leprechaun as well. A well done leprechaun can be complicated. But a four leaf clover is very simple in design but deep in meaning for us. Italians may choose a cross, as the majority of them are Catholic.

11 – Lifestyle Choices

If you are a vegetarian, or secretly recycle your neighbor’s pizza boxes, you have a passion in your life for something. Use that to find a simple tattoo idea. A vegetarian tattoo may be your favorite veggie. If you are snatching pizza boxes a recycling symbol would be a good choice. Think about the thing you are the most passionate about and the image that comes to mind.

12 – Hearts & Stars

These two designs are included in the top 10 tattoo designs chosen by women. They are especially popular as a first tattoo choice. Hearts and stars are basic design shapes that can have hundreds of different meanings. They are so popular in fact that it may be difficult to find a design that you won’t see on someone else as you are walking down the street. Because of this, if you want a unique tat this may not be the way you want to go with your design.

Are you gonna get a simple tattoo?

It is easy to get overwhelmed with tattoo design choices. This is especially true if you know you want a tattoo but you have no idea what to get. This is a common problem for those of us who have become addicted. Let these suggestions be a jump off point for landing an idea for your next tattoo.